As the deadline set by dissident Congress MLAs in Assam demanding the replacement of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi expired on Saturday, the party's central leadership made it amply clear that it had no intention of acting under pressure.
On Friday, after the party’s central spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi ruled out any change in the leadership of the State ahead of the Assembly session there, Mr. Gogoi said in Guwahati that his government would continue in the State.
Describing reports that Mr. Gogoi would be replaced soon as media speculation, Mr. Singhvi said: “There is nothing in all this speculation. The high command will take a decision on the matter after studying the reports of the last few months. As of now, everything remains as it is.”
He said the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, was sent to Assam as a central observer and his report was with the high command. The party high command, Mr. Singhvi indicated, could not be forced into rushing into any hasty decision.
A central functionary told The Hindu that while there was no guarantee that Mr. Gogoi would stay, the party would not be pressured into taking a decision as that would only embolden dissidents in the other Congress-ruled States of Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka.
But Mr. Singhvi’s comment appears to have triggered a spurt in the activities of the dissidents, with three among them announcing that they will be in the national capital on Monday to meet Congress general secretary in-charge of Assam C.P. Joshi to discuss their demand for a change in leadership in the State.
The trio also met the Assembly Speaker on Saturday, triggering speculation that the dissidents would go ahead with their plan of boycotting the impending budget session there.
